TAMPA, Fla. — A national chemo drug shortage is preventing some cancer patients from getting the treatment they need. Some infusion centers are reducing – or not offering at all – some of the drugs used in chemo treatment.
The three drugs listed on the Food and Drug Administration's drug shortage database: Cisplatin, Carboplatin and 5-Fluorouracil.
Tampa Bay-area cancer patients are already seeing the impacts.
Madison Baloy is currently fighting stage four adenocarcinoma with a colon primary. She's in the middle of chemo treatments now, scheduled to receive her sixth cycle on Monday.
"It's my actual life that's at stake," Baloy said when speaking about the chemo drug shortage. "And so finding out there is a shortage is...Oh, it's, it's really, it's rough. It's rough."
Baloy had her 'chemo cocktail,' as she called it, modified because of the drug shortage.
"Two times in a row, I only received half of the chemo cocktail that I was supposed to receive," Baloy said. "And even if they had had carbo[platin] in stock, they wouldn't have given me the full amount because of the shortage."
Baloy receives cancer treatment at Florida Cancer Specialists. She shared that with the current short supply, she doesn't know what her chemo treatment will look like until moments before it's administered. She's one of hundreds of people in the Tampa Bay area impacted by the drug shortage.
At Moffitt Cancer Center, they have a two-month supply of Carboplatin. They say that’s typical. But what’s concerning right now is they don’t know how long they’ll be able to maintain that supply in the coming months.
Ken Komorny is the vice president chief pharmacy officer at Moffitt Cancer Center. He shared that a recent FDA approval has alleviated concerns surrounding the shortage of Cisplatin.
"So with Cisplatin, we have been able to secure several months of medication and therefore we're able to remove our restrictions that tied with drug," Komorny explained.
According to Komorny, the FDA recently approved a Chinese product that will help supplement the current short supply.
"Carboplatin, on the other hand, is a drug that is a little more limited in supply, our stocks are a little less, we've had to put restrictions in place for that drug," Komorny said.
Komorny said this means switching some Moffitt patients to alternative medicines for treatment.
"We also look at things like dose reductions and duration limitations," he said. "And if, based on the clinical literature, if that can safely be done – we take advantage of some of those opportunities."
Moffitt Cancer Center says they're prioritizing Carboplatin treatments for patients who can't have substitutions. For those on the receiving end of modified treatment plans, it's tough.
"I didn't have any control over getting cancer," Baloy said. "And so to be given another thing that I don't have any control over. It makes me feel very vulnerable."
Baloy has been given a difficult prognosis by her team of doctors.
"I was diagnosed with stage four cancer, and only six percent of people diagnosed with stage four cancer will see life past five years of diagnosis," Baloy said. "But I'm kicking a-- so I'm not really that concerned with the progress."
For Baloy, chemo drugs are a needed tool to keep her fight against cancer going strong.
Moffitt Cancer Center said they met with officials from the FDA last week, they were told more Carboplatin would be made available next month, hopefully alleviating the current shortage.
Malique Rankin is a general assignment reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. You can email her story ideas at mrankin@10tampabay.com and follow her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.